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The Spirit Himself bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. [Romans 8:16] And the Spirit also leads you. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. [Romans 8:14] It is through the word of God that He leads you, as He causes you to rest beside quiet waters, and restores your soul to then lead you in paths of righteousness. [Psalms 23:1-3]
He restores –
He reinstates what was lost, and refreshes you, enabling you to do what is right, what He wants you to do.
He leads –
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. [Psalms 119:105] A simple and foundational truth comes shining through this verse. The lamp – the light, is the word of God, giving direction in your life, showing you the path to take. And to make it practically applicable in your life it elaborates further – For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life. [Proverbs 6:23]
The lamp – The light:
An ancient imagery but it resonates so powerfully even now, conveying what you can easily see – the lamp has to be lighted in order to shed light. The word of God is the lamp in your hand. And you have the capacity within you to listen to God and receive correction and instruction, teaching which comes as a revelation from God through His word. It is the light that shows you the path of righteousness.
It exposes and expels darkness, the ignorance in you that can keep you from moving forward to reach your God given destiny. For you may not know everything concerning your life, but He does, since He is the All knowing God. And as you meditate on His word day and night, your mind will get renewed, your thoughts replaced by His thoughts that are infinitely higher, dealing with your doubts, answering and explaining the questions that arise within you regarding the happenings of your life.
Exposes the darkness –
The rich young ruler who came to Jesus in arrogant self-righteousness thought he had done it all in order to be saved. It was the Saviour, the Eternal Word who loved him and pointed out his need, the one thing that he lacked. [Matthew 19:16-22] The word of God, in grace and truth, will do that in your life too. And there are two ways in which you can respond to it. You can choose to run and fall at God’s feet in repentance, or try to hide from Him as Adam tried to do. But the psalmist declares what is eternally true, – ‘Where shall I go from your Spirit ? Or where shall I flee from your presence ?’ [Psalms 139:7] So go to Him saying, ‘Here I am Lord, wholly submitted to you and available to do your will’. Self righteous pretention and hypocrisy may be the façade of some, but it need not be yours. Truth will always expose, but will never take you on a guilt trip. Leave it all to Him. Let God do the procedure. You will emerge cleansed and empowered.
It comes to you through God’s word and even in the gathering of saints which is so precious and good. It is a course correction, a minor one maybe, but when dealt with rightly, will lead you to excellence. And if you are a dimly burning wick, you will start shining brightly.
Your spirit – the lamp of God:
The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord searching all his innermost parts. [Proverbs 20: 27] This is the other dimension of divine connection, where the spirit of man is likened to the lamp of God. Every human being is composed of a spirit, soul and body. And it is the spirit, the godly part of every person that can have fellowship with God. It is like a lamp that when lighted by God can bring light into your life, driving away all darkness. For when the spirit is cut off from God as it was in the garden of Eden, your mind will become predominant, leading you to depend on your feelings and instincts, carrying you into the realm of your fleshly nature that is not aligned to being led by the Spirit. Your spirit is the lamp of God.
How does it connect to God leading you ?
The eye is the lamp of the body, the Lord declares. [Matthew 6:22] He refers here to your inner eye, the eyes of your heart. This is the lamp that needs to be lit. And the word of God in your heart is the spark that lights the lamp, giving you light and direction. Even now there may be people around you wanting to snuff out your light, your lamp. It happened in the life of King David many times. But after he was restored to a place of honour by God, David triumphantly declares, For it is You who light my lamp. The Lord my God lightens my darkness. [Psalms 18:28]
Your lamp lighted – the significance:
The lighting of the lamp is often done in our culture to signify a new beginning. The Lord will do it in your life too, light your lamp to begin something new. He will also keep it burning, driving away the darkness. You will remain lighted by the word of God, being transformed from glory to glory to become more and more like Him. It begins with your salvation which is a beautiful depiction of your lamp getting lighted.
Light comes in your inner being –
For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:6] When the lamp, the spirit of a man is lighted by the word of God, it results in salvation.
How is it lighted ?
The earth was formless, void and in darkness. And God said, “Let there be light”. [Genesis 1:3]
How did light appear ?
God spoke it. Thus to bring light into your life, and for darkness and gloom to disappear, speak the word of God that arises in your spirit, the lamp of God, over your life, for life and death are in the power of the tongue. Even if there is no one around you to speak light over your life, you can do it yourself. It was what David did when the people around him were ready to stone him. He encouraged himself in the Lord. [1 Samuel 30:6] Creation of everything on earth was by God’s spoken word. New creation also takes place through confession, when God speaks the word which penetrates the dark spot in you to bring about a mighty change. God values your individuality and takes care to speak to you according to your personality.
A simple phrase –
To Saul who was on the road to Damascus to persecute those who believed in Jesus, He spoke with crisp clarity, shining through a light brighter than the sun, ‘I am Jesus’. [Acts 9:1-9] Jesus – it was the same name, but now it turned the persecutor into a proclaimer of His Name, lit a fire in him, dispelling his darkness of ignorance.
A long conversation –
A premature and futile attempt to fulfill his calling driving him into the wilderness, Moses was like a dimly burning wick when he encountered in the burning bush the God who never snuffs it out. And He had a long conversation with Moses, driving away his reluctance and doubt to lighten his darkness, to light once again the fire in him.
Tongues of fire –
You may be in the same place in your life today –a dimly burning wick because of something bad that has happened in your past, but the Lord Jesus will light your fire once again. Surely you have a future and a hope. For when you are saved the Holy Spirit comes in you and upon you, even as what seemed like tongues of fire came to rest upon the 120 gathered in the upper room, praying with one accord. And it lightens your lamp, expelling darkness, giving the light of understanding, a blessed paradigm shift. Now, instead of thinking what you can do, it is all about what Christ has already done for you. It is the centrality of Christianity.
The CROSS –
The psalmist David says, ‘The Lord will accomplish all that concerns me’, but on the Cross of Calvary, ‘It is finished’ the Lord proclaimed. All that needs to be done for your abundant life has already been done. The true Light has come into your life, dispelling darkness, and can never be extinguished. The darkness around you will not overcome you. Instead you will overwhelmingly conquer, for greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world.
The lamp that is lighted –
For by you I can run against a troop, And by my God I can leap over a wall. [Psalms 18:29] It is now the voice of confidence, a victory over darkness, expressed powerfully in the context of war by David. For as a king and a leader of his army, he had to scale over a wall in order to take over a city. You too can now make advances and breakthroughs in your life. Your spirit illuminated by the word of God, you can scale over your obstacles to progress in the path of righteousness.
The Lamb – the Light:
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and it’s Lamp is the Lamb. [Revelation 21:23] When redemption is complete, all things made new, the new heavens has no need of sun or moon to give light, for the Lamb Himself is it’s Lamp. And maybe not the fullness, but the fore taste of it can be yours even now when the Light there becomes your Light even here. It will see your life magnificently transformed.
The Lord – the Everlasting Light:
Your sun shall no more go down nor your moon withdraw itself. For the Lord will be your Everlasting Light and the days of your mourning shall be ended. [Isaiah 60:20] The Lamb, the perfect sacrifice has carried away your sin and sorrow on the Cross. And now He is the Risen Lord, the Lamb upon the throne. Your days of mourning shall be ended. Weeping may endure through the night, but joy cometh in the morning Amen.
